Galliano and JTQ

The Acid Jazz Records 25^th Anniversary re-issue series continues with two uber rare seven inch singles. Galliano – Frederic Lies Still and JTQ’s – Blow Up.

Galliano were formed in 1987, a time when House music was becoming ever more prominent, and the Rare Groove scene really started to develop. The group was founded by new-age rapper and jazz poet Rob Gallagher, who had been broadcasting on pirate radio and performing at Gilles Peterson’s Babylon Club. This is where he first started to use the jazz and rare groove sounds that were played there as a musical background for his poetry. Rob traced his influences directly back to The Last Poets, bringing a purity into his raps that easily made him stand out from the crowd.

Frederic Lies Still is a play on Freddie’s Dead from the Superfly soundtrack with Rob Gallagher’s rapping redefining the idea of poetry.

The track was the first ever 45 released on Acid Jazz Records (originally released as a fake US import, which fooled many a reviewer), marking the beginning of a new musical era. Their sound defined the feel of the time, and the band enjoyed a productive relationship with producer Chris Bangs throughout the late 80s and early 90s, establishing themselves as first-class act of global proportions.

The late and great Radio 1 DJ, John Peel, once described JTQ’s Blow Up as his favorite single, Ex-Prisoners, The James Tayor Quartet were the epitome of the early Acid Jazz sound.

This version of the theme from Antonioni’s classic mod film Blow Up is coupled with the Jazz standard One Mint Julep, both of which also feature on JTQ’s debut album Mission Impossible.

The James Taylor Quartet’s first ever recording was also the first record ever to be labeled Acid Jazz and became a template for what was to follow.

Two more to collect and others to follow.